Selena Gomez’s newest album, Rare, released the very first week of January, is very different than the music she has released in the past.
The album is full of upbeat songs with emotional lyrics and a few self-love anthems for the ladies. Nonetheless, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t disappointing.
We essentially waited four years for an almost transparent album.
Granted, no one wants her to mold into an artist that she actually isn’t, but I think it’s safe to say that people expected more honesty.
Gomez has had a tough go of things over the last few years. She dated and broke up with R&B singer/rapper The Weeknd and, for a short while, was spotted with another ex, Justin Bieber, who has since married Hailey Baldwin.
She also received a kidney transplant from one of her closest friends, Francia Raisa, and has been in and out of rehab due to mental illness. She must have some emotions that she wants to express. Yet, she didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, the album isn’t bad, it’s just conventional.
The two singles she released off the album were “Lose You to Love Me” and “Look at Her Now.” The two work together well, and they made me excited to hear the rest of the album initially.
LYTLM brought a sincere, honest, wistful feel and basically set the tone for the rest of the album. Speculations arose that this was the song written for Justin Bieber.
LAHN is a fun, upbeat track about enjoying your life and finding love according to your own timeline.
Like I said, the two make a great pair and complement each other well with their mix of lessons learned from heartbreak with different piano chords.
The title track on the album pairs well with LYTLM and LAHN too. They have the same messages of melancholy and heartbreak, except “Rare” tells that story with a cool drum intro and slightly repetitive chorus. I think it’s safe to say that these three are the power trio of the album.
The song “Fun” was co-written by another of Gomez’s close friends, fellow singer Julia Michaels. This song lives up to its title and is fun to listen to.
My favorite line is “My kind of trouble likes your trouble, too.” This is a new kind of lyric for Gomez. It’s sassy and I can imagine her saying it with an arched brow.
While this song is fun, though, it’s also a little sensual in sound. It’s also not immune to getting old fast, so I ended up skipping it halfway through.
My second favorite song after LYTLM is “People You Know.” It doesn’t have a very creative chorus, but I relate to the message and it isn’t annoyingly pop-sounding. The lyrics of it are a little bit wistful and slightly sad, like a goodbye. Kudos to her for being able to portray those emotions in a pop song.
The song “Vulnerable” had every possibility to be the best song on the album but it was made into a dance song. I just feel like there’s a disconnect between the lyrics and the beat. The hook is one of those songs that I would admittedly scream-sing in my car, but I would have loved for the entire song to have followed that same pattern.
I could see this one being in a rom-com during one of those scenes where two teens are the last ones in the hot tub. Basically, it gives me To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before vibes.
I think the only song on the album that was edited perfectly, where the lyrics and the sound aren’t complete opposites, is “Dance Again.” It reminds me of her song, “Round and Round.”
The messages are different, obviously, as they were written during two completely different seasons of her life, but I feel like together they tell a story of a relationship finally coming to a real end. I also feel like “Dance Again” has the potential to go viral on TikTok for some reason.
“Cut You Off” is another song that I enjoyed from the album. It may be my No. 3.
This one is nice because it has a nice melody, pretty harmonies and a classic feel. This song feels timeless. It has nice guitar solos that don’t overpower the song, and her voice sounds raw but in a good way.
One of the lyrics is, “professionally messing with my trust” and I just really enjoy how that was written. It’s a chill song to listen to; you could add it to your homework playlist even.
“Sweeter Place” is her song with Kid Cudi and “Crowded Room” is her other collab with 6LACK. To see her working with artists who are so different from her usual sound, as well as her usual circle of influence, was interesting.
I think the issue with these two songs, though, is that the two artists she collaborated with are powerhouses on their own, so the songs they’re featured on sound like Gomez is the featured artist instead.
“Kinda Crazy,” “Let Me Get Me” and “Ring” are all new sounds for her too. “Kinda Crazy” has a cool guitar intro and a potentially awesome music video possibility, LMGM has a way of making you want to salsa dance, and “Ring” is kind of savage with its witty lyrics about getting calls. . . all twenty-three of them. These three epitomize the idea of Selena having a new sound.
In all, I can see that she worked really hard on this album. She’s been very passionate in her promo and honest about how emotional this one was for her.
However, I feel like she and I have different definitions of what being genuine means. I don’t expect her to be Taylor Swift honest, but I expected more than another basic-sounding pop album—I suppose she caught me slippin’.
I’d give this album, on a scale of one to 10. . . a six. I admire her hard work, but I expected a little more expression from her.
